Electronic device and method of processing notification in electronic device

ABSTRACT

Various embodiments of the present disclosure relate to an electronic device and a method of processing a notification in an electronic device. The electronic device may include a display that displays at least one object on a screen, and a controller that determines a notification display area for displaying a notification on the screen based on a gesture of a user associated with at least one object displayed on the screen, and to display the notification in at least one determined notification display area.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 15/186,255,filed Jun. 17, 2016, which claim priority to Korean Application No.10-2015-0086862, which was filed in the Korean Intellectual PropertyOffice on Jun. 18, 2015, the entire contents of which are herebyincorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

Various embodiments of the present disclosure relate to an electronicdevice and a method of processing a notification in an electronicdevice.

2. Description of Related Art

An electronic device may display an object on a screen of a display invarious types. In general, a screen of a display in an electronic devicemay be formed of a plurality of layers. Basically, the screen mayinclude a foundation that is gray or is an achromatic color of a grayaffiliation. The screen may form a layer type block on the foundation.The screen may include at least one object in the formed block todisplay the object.

In addition, a layer that includes a newly generated object may overlapthe layer on which the object is displayed and may be displayed on thelayer on which the object is displayed. An advertisement and the likecovering the whole, or some, of the layer displaying the object on thescreen may be displayed in various types.

However, a plurality of layers overlap each other and are displayed onthe screen in the electronic device. For example, an object displayed asa floating type is a notification of various overlay types, such as awidget of an overlay type, a messenger chat window, a sticker memo, anda clock. The electronic device may provide an effect in which thenotification is shown at the top of the screen.

Therefore, since the object displayed at the top of the screen in theelectronic device covers an object displayed on the bottom layer, thereis a disadvantage in the use of the object displayed on the bottomlayer.

SUMMARY

To address the above-discussed deficiencies, it is a primary object toprovide, an electronic device for processing a notification based on,for example, at least one object displayed on a screen or a gesture of auser related to an object, and may further provide a method ofprocessing a notification in an electronic device.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, an electronic devicemay include a display that displays at least one object on a screen anda controller. The controller may determine a notification display areafor displaying a notification on the screen based on a gesture of a userrelated to at least one object displayed on the screen and may alsodisplay the notification in at least one determined notification displayarea.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method ofprocessing a notification in an electronic device includes displaying atleast one object on a screen, determining a notification display areafor displaying a notification on the screen based on a gesture of a userrelated to at least one object displayed on the screen, and displayingthe notification in at least one determined notification display area.

According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, an objectdisplayed on a screen may be used in an electronic device by processinga notification so as not to cover an object displayed on a screen in atleast one notification display area determined on the screen and basedon at least one object displayed on the screen or a gesture of a userrelated to the object.

Before undertaking the DETAILED DESCRIPTION below, it may beadvantageous to set forth definitions of certain words and phrases usedthroughout this patent document: the terms “include” and “comprise,” aswell as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion without limitation; the term“or,” is inclusive, meaning and/or; the phrases “associated with” and“associated therewith,” as well as derivatives thereof, may mean toinclude, be included within, interconnect with, contain, be containedwithin, connect to or with, couple to or with, be communicable with,cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximate to, be bound to orwith, have, have a property of, or the like; and the term “controller”means any device, system or part thereof that controls at least oneoperation, such a device may be implemented in hardware, firmware orsoftware, or some combination of at least two of the same. It should benoted that the functionality associated with any particular controllermay be centralized or distributed, whether locally or remotely.Definitions for certain words and phrases are provided throughout thispatent document, those of ordinary skill in the art should understandthat in many, if not most instances, such definitions apply to prior, aswell as future uses of such defined words and phrases.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure and itsadvantages, reference is now made to the following description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencenumerals represent like parts:

FIG. 1 illustrates a network environment according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates a configuration of an electronic device according tovarious embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates a notification displayed in an electronic deviceaccording to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate displays of a notification in an electronicdevice according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a procedure for processing anotification in an electronic device according to various embodiments ofthe present disclosure;

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate displays of a notification in an electronicdevice according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate displays of a notification in an electronicdevice according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 8A and 8B illustrate displays of a notification in an electronicdevice according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate displays of a notification in an electronicdevice according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate displays of a notification in an electronicdevice according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 11A and 11B illustrate displays of a notification in an electronicdevice according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 12 illustrates a display of a notification in an electronic deviceaccording to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 13A to 13C illustrate displays of a notification in an electronicdevice according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 14A and 14B illustrate displays of a notification in an electronicdevice according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 15A to 15D illustrate displays of a notification in an electronicdevice according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 16A to 16F illustrate displays of a notification in an electronicdevice according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 17A to 17D illustrate displays of a notification in an electronicdevice according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 18 is a block diagram illustrating a procedure for processing anotification in an electronic device according to various embodiments ofthe present disclosure;

FIGS. 19A to 19C illustrate displays of a notification in an electronicdevice according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 20A to 20C illustrate displays of a notification in an electronicdevice according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 21A and 21B illustrate displays of a notification in an electronicdevice according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 22 is a block diagram illustrating a procedure for processing anotification in an electronic device according to various embodiments ofthe present disclosure;

FIGS. 23A and 23B illustrate displays of a notification in an electronicdevice according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 24A and 24B illustrate displays of a notification in an electronicdevice according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 25A and 25B illustrate displays of a notification in an electronicdevice according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 26A and 26B illustrate displays of a notification in an electronicdevice according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 27A to 27E illustrate displays of a notification in an electronicdevice according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 28 illustrates layers displayed on a screen in an electronic deviceaccording to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 29A to 29D illustrate displays of a notification in an electronicdevice according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 30A and 30B illustrate displays of a notification in an electronicdevice according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 31 is a block diagram of an electronic device according to variousembodiments; and

FIG. 32 is a block diagram of a program module of an electronic deviceaccording to various embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1 through 32, discussed below, and the various embodiments used todescribe the principles of the present disclosure in this patentdocument are by way of illustration only and should not be construed inany way to limit the scope of the disclosure. Those skilled in the artwill understand that the principles of the present disclosure may beimplemented in any suitably arranged electronic device.

As used herein, the expression “have”, “may have”, “include”, or “mayinclude” refers to the existence of a corresponding feature (e.g.,numeral, function, operation, or constituent element such as component),and does not exclude one or more additional features.

In the present disclosure, the expression “A or B”, “at least one of Aor/and B”, or “one or more of A or/and B” may include all possiblecombinations of the items listed. For example, the expression “A or B”,“at least one of A and B”, or “at least one of A or B” refers to all of(1) including at least one A, (2) including at least one B, or (3)including all of at least one A and at least one B.

The expression “a first”, “a second”, “the first”, or “the second” usedin various embodiments of the present disclosure may modify variouscomponents regardless of the order and/or the importance but does notlimit the corresponding components. For example, a first user device anda second user device indicate different user devices although both ofthem are user devices. For example, a first element may be termed asecond element, and similarly, a second element may be termed a firstelement without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

It should be understood that when an element (e.g., first element) isreferred to as being (operatively or communicatively) “connected,” or“coupled,” to another element (e.g., second element), it may be directlyconnected or coupled directly to the other element or any other element(e.g., third element) may be interposer between them. In contrast, itmay be understood that when an element (e.g., first element) is referredto as being “directly connected,” or “directly coupled” to anotherelement (second element), there are no element (e.g., third element)interposed between them.

The expression “configured to” used in the present disclosure may beexchanged with, for example, “suitable for”, “having the capacity to”,“designed to”, “adapted to”, “made to”, or “capable of” according to thesituation. The term “configured to” may not necessarily imply“specifically designed to” in hardware. Alternatively, in somesituations, the expression “device configured to” may mean that thedevice, together with other devices or components, “is able to”. Forexample, the phrase “processor adapted (or configured) to perform A, B,and C” may mean a dedicated processor (e.g., embedded processor) forperforming the corresponding operations or a generic-purpose processor(e.g., central processing unit (CPU) or application processor (AP)) thatcan perform the corresponding operations by executing one or moresoftware programs stored in a memory device.

The terms used herein are merely for the purpose of describing variousembodiments and are not intended to limit the scope of otherembodiments. As used herein, singular forms may include plural forms aswell unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Unless definedotherwise, all terms used herein, including technical and scientificterms, include the same meaning as those commonly understood by a personskilled in the art to which the present disclosure pertains. Such termsas those defined in a generally used dictionary may be interpreted toinclude the meanings equal to the contextual meanings in the relevantfield of art, and are not to be interpreted to have ideal or excessivelyformal meanings unless clearly defined in the present disclosure. Eventhe terms defined in the present disclosure should not be interpreted toexclude embodiments of the present disclosure as described herein.

An electronic device according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure may include at least one of, for example, a smart phone, atablet Personal Computer (PC), a mobile phone, a video phone, anelectronic book reader (e-book reader), a desktop PC, a laptop PC, anetbook computer, a workstation, a server, a Personal Digital Assistant(PDA), a Portable Multimedia Player (PMP), a MPEG-1 audio layer-3 (MP3)player, a mobile medical device, a camera, and a wearable device.According to various embodiments, the wearable device may include atleast one of an accessory type (e.g., a watch, a ring, a bracelet, ananklet, a necklace, a glasses, a contact lens, or a Head-Mounted Device(HMD)), a fabric or clothing integrated type (e.g., an electronicclothing), a body-mounted type (e.g., a skin pad, or tattoo), and abio-implantable type (e.g., an implantable circuit).

According to some embodiments, the electronic device may be a homeappliance. The home appliance may include at least one of, for example,a television, a Digital Video Disk (DVD) player, an audio, arefrigerator, an air conditioner, a vacuum cleaner, an oven, a microwaveoven, a washing machine, an air cleaner, a set-top box, a homeautomation control panel, a security control panel, a TV box (e.g.,Samsung HomeSync®, Apple TV®, or Google TV®), a game console (e.g.,Xbox® and PlayStation®), an electronic dictionary, an electronic key, acamcorder, and an electronic photo frame.

According to another embodiment, the electronic device may include atleast one of various medical devices (e.g., various portable medicalmeasuring devices (a blood glucose monitoring device, a heart ratemonitoring device, a blood pressure measuring device, a body temperaturemeasuring device, etc.), a Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRA), aMagnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), a Computed Tomography (CT) machine,and an ultrasonic machine), a navigation device, a Global PositioningSystem (GPS) receiver, an Event Data Recorder (EDR), a Flight DataRecorder (FDR), a Vehicle Infotainment Devices, an electronic devicesfor a ship (e.g., a navigation device for a ship, and a gyro-compass),avionics, security devices, an automotive head unit, a robot for home orindustry, an automatic teller's machine (ATM) in banks, point of sales(POS) in a shop, or internet device of things (e.g., a light bulb,various sensors, electric or gas meter, a sprinkler device, a firealarm, a thermostat, a streetlamp, a toaster, a sporting goods, a hotwater tank, a heater, a boiler, etc.).

According to some embodiments, the electronic device may include atleast one of a part of furniture or a building/structure, an electronicboard, an electronic signature receiving device, a projector, andvarious kinds of measuring instruments (e.g., a water meter, an electricmeter, a gas meter, and a radio wave meter). In various embodiments, theelectronic device may be a combination of one or more of theaforementioned various devices. According to some embodiments, theelectronic device may also be a flexible device. Further, the electronicdevice according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is notlimited to the aforementioned devices, and may include a new electronicdevice according to the development of technology.

Hereinafter, an electronic device according to various embodiments willbe described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the presentdisclosure, the term “user” may indicate a person using an electronicdevice or a device (e.g., an artificial intelligence electronic device)using an electronic device.

An electronic device 101 within a network environment 100, according tovarious embodiments, will be described with reference to FIG. 1. Theelectronic device 101 may include a bus 110, a processor 120, a memory130, an input/output interface 150, a display 160, and a communicationinterface 170. In some embodiments, the electronic device 101 may omitat least one of the above elements or may further include otherelements.

The bus 110 may include, for example, a circuit for interconnecting theelements 110 to 170 and transferring communication (for example, controlmessages and/or data) between the elements.

The processor 120 may include one or more of a Central Processing Unit(CPU), an Application Processor (AP), and a Communication Processor(CP). For example, the processor 120 may carry out operations or dataprocessing related to the control and/or communication of at least oneother component of the electronic device 101.

The memory 130 may include a volatile memory and/or a non-volatilememory. The memory 130 may store, for example, instructions or datarelevant to at least one other element of the electronic device 101.According to an embodiment, the memory 130 may store software and/or aprogram 140. The program 140 may include a kernel 141, middleware 143,an Application Programming Interface (API) 145, and/or applicationprograms (or “applications”) 147. At least some of the kernel 141, themiddleware 143, and the API 145 may be referred to as an OperatingSystem (OS).

The kernel 141 may control or manage system resources (for example, thebus 110, the processor 120, or the memory 130) used for performing anoperation or function implemented by the other programs (for example,the middleware 143, the API 145, or the application programs 147).Furthermore, the kernel 141 may provide an interface through which themiddleware 143, the API 145, or the application programs 147 may accessthe individual elements of the electronic device 101 to control ormanage the system resources.

The middleware 143 may function as, for example, an intermediary forallowing the API 145 or the application programs 147 to communicate withthe kernel 141 to exchange data.

In addition, the middleware 143 may process one or more task requestsreceived from the application programs 147 according to prioritiesthereof. For example, the middleware 143 may assign, to at least one ofthe application programs 147, priorities for using the system resources(for example, the bus 110, the processor 120, the memory 130, or thelike) of the electronic device 101. For example, the middleware 143 mayperform scheduling or loading balancing on the one or more task requestsby processing the one or more task requests according to the prioritiesassigned thereto.

For example, the API 145 is an interface through which the applications147 control functions provided from the kernel 141 or the middleware143, and may include, for example, at least one interface or function(for example, instruction) for file control, window control, imageprocessing, or text control.

The input/output interface 150 may function as, for example, aninterface that may transfer instructions or data input from a user oranother external device to the other element(s) of the electronic device101. Furthermore, the input/output interface 150 may output theinstructions or data received from the other element(s) of theelectronic device 101 to the user or another external device.

The display 160 may include, for example, a Liquid Crystal Display(LCD), a Light-Emitting Diode (LED) display, an Organic Light-EmittingDiode (OLED) display, a MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS) display,and an electronic paper display. The display 160, for example, maydisplay various types of contents (for example, text, images, videos,icons, or symbols) for the user. The display 160 may include a touchscreen, and may receive, for example, a touch, gesture, proximity, orhovering input by using an electronic pen or a part of the user's body.

The communication interface 170, for example, may set communicationbetween the electronic device 101 and an external device (e.g., a firstexternal electronic device 102, a second external electronic device 104,or a server 106). For example, the communication interface 170 may beconnected to a network 162 through wireless or wired communication tocommunicate with the external device (for example, the second externalelectronic device 104 or the server 106).

The wireless communication may use, for example, at least one of LongTerm Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advance (LTE-A), Code Division Multiple Access(CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), Universal Mobile TelecommunicationsSystem (UMTS), WiBro (Wireless Broadband), Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM) and the like, for example, as a cellularcommunication protocol. In addition, the wireless communication mayinclude, for example, a short range communication 164. The short rangecommunication 164 may include, for example, at least one of Wi-Fi,Bluetooth, Near Field Communication (NFC), Global Navigation SatelliteSystem (GNSS), and the like. The GNSS may include, for example, at leastone of a Global Positioning System (GPS), a Global navigation satellitesystem (Glonass), a Beidou Navigation satellite system (hereinafter,referred to as “Beidou”), Galileo, and the European Globalsatellite-based navigation system according to the place of usage, abandwidth, or the like. Hereinafter, the “GPS” may be usedinterchangeably used with the “GNSS” in the present disclosure. Thewired communication may include, for example, at least one of aUniversal Serial Bus (USB), a High Definition Multimedia Interface(HDMI), Recommended Standard 232 (RS-232), and a Plain Old TelephoneService (POTS). The network 162 may include at least one of acommunication network, such as a computer network (for example, a LAN ora WAN), the Internet, and a telephone network.

Each of the first and second external electronic devices 102 and 104 maybe of a type that is identical to, or different from, that of theelectronic device 101. According to an embodiment, the server 106 mayinclude a group of one or more servers. According to variousembodiments, all or some of the operations performed in the electronicdevice 101 may be performed in another electronic device or a pluralityof electronic devices (for example, the electronic devices 102 and 104or the server 106). According to an embodiment, when the electronicdevice 101 has to perform some functions or services automatically or inresponse to a request, the electronic device 101 may make a request forperforming at least some functions relating thereto to another device(for example, the electronic device 102 or 104 or the server 106)instead of performing the functions or services by itself or inaddition. Another electronic device (for example, the electronic device102 or 104) or the server 106 may execute the requested functions or theadditional functions, and may deliver a result of the execution to theelectronic device 101. The electronic device 101 may process thereceived result as it is or may additionally process the result toprovide the requested functions or services. To achieve this, forexample, cloud computing, distributed computing, or client-servercomputing technology may be used.

Hereinafter, an electronic device, according to various embodiments ofthe present disclosure, will be described with reference to theaccompanying drawings.

A notification described in various embodiments of the presentdisclosure may refer to an object displayed on a screen of a display inan electronic device in at least one among a floating type, an overlay(e.g., various kinds of quick accesses, a messenger multi-window, aspecific icon, a specific widget and a launcher), and other variousdisplay types. The notification may be displayed on a searchednotification display area during a predetermined time and may disappear.Alternatively, the notification may be displayed or moved and displayedon a searched notification display area until a user identifies thenotification.

In addition, a notification display area described in variousembodiments of the present disclosure may be an area searched fordisplaying a notification on a screen of a display. The notificationdisplay area may refer to an area searched so as not to cover at leastone displayed object or an important area based on at least one objectdisplayed on a first layer exposed on the screen or a gesture of a user.

In addition, an object described in various embodiments of the presentdisclosure may refer to various types of data output from an electronicdevice or an operation (e.g., procedure, method or function) related tothe data. For example, the object may refer to various types of contentsdisplayed on a screen according to a specific function execution of anelectronic device.

FIG. 2 is a view illustrating an example of a configuration of anelectronic device according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

Referring to FIG. 2, according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure, an electronic device (e.g., the electronic device 101 ofFIG. 1) may include at least one of a controller 210, a communicationunit 220, an input unit 230, a storage unit 240, and a display 250.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, thecontroller 210 (e.g., the processor 120 of FIG. 1) may processinformation according to an operation of the electronic device, aprogram, or information according to an execution of a function. Thecontroller 210 may control to display the processed information on thedisplay 250, or may control to output the processed information throughan audio module (not shown).

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, thecontroller 210 may include an information collection module 211 or aninformation process module 212. The information collection module 211may collect information on a gesture of a user and information on atleast one object displayed on a screen. The information process module212 may process the collected information or may perform an operationfor processing a notification.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, thecontroller 210 may control to determine a notification display area fordisplaying a notification on the screen based on a gesture of a userrelated to at least one object displayed on the screen of the display250, and to display the notification in at least one determinednotification display area. The controller 210 may determine thenotification display area based on information on the gesture of theuser and information on at least one object displayed on the screen.According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, as shown inFIG. 3, the notification may include an object (e.g., at least one amongobjects 301, 303, 305, 307, 309 and 311) displayed in an overlay type onthe screen of the display 250 in the electronic device. In addition, thenotification may be an object displayed on the screen as a floating typeor at least one of other various display types. For example, the overlaymay be one of various kinds of quick accesses, a messenger multi-window,a specific icon, a specific widget, and a launcher.

The controller 210, according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure, may control to display a layer (e.g., a first layer) fordisplaying an object including at least one object on a foundation layeron a screen including a plurality of layers. According to variousembodiments, the controller 210 may control to display a notification401 in an area on the first layer as shown in accompanying FIG. 4A. Inaddition, according to various embodiments, the controller 210 maycontrol to display a layer (e.g., a second layer) including anotification on the first layer by overlaying the layer including thenotification on the first layer. For example, as shown in accompanyingFIG. 4B, the controller 210 may display a plurality of notifications 403on an area of the screen, and may control to display a second layer 405,which includes the notification 403 by overlaying the second layer 405on the first layer. According to various embodiments, the controller 210may control to display, on the screen of the display, a first layerwhich is formed again by synthesizing a notification generated on thefirst layer including at least one object. The controller 210 maycontrol to display a function corresponding to an execution request ofthe generated notification on another layer overlaid on the first layer.

In addition, according to various embodiments, the controller 210 maycontrol to display or move and display the generated notification onanother area (e.g., at least one area among an expanded area, a key pad,an important button and a fixed area (e.g., an indicator which is anicon displaying a current environment)) of the screen, rather than thearea (e.g., a first layer display area) displaying at least one objecton the screen. When a user uses at least one object displayed on thefirst layer and the notification display area is not discovered on thefirst layer, the controller 210 may control to display or move anddisplay the generated notification to and on another area of the screenrather than an area displaying the first layer. In addition, when thecontroller 210 uses another area of the screen where the notification ispositioned, the controller 210 may identify the use of another area ofthe screen based on a chase of a user's eye, a gesture (e.g., a movementof a hand), or information on a user's voice (e.g., a voice instructionfor processing a notification). In one embodiment, the controller 210may control to search for the notification display area on the screen,and may move the notification to the searched area to display thenotification on the searched area.

In addition, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure,when the notification is generated, the controller 210 may control tomove and display the generated notification to and on the searchednotification display area after displaying the generated notification onan initially configured position. In addition, the controller 210 maycontrol to display the generated notification on the searchednotification display area by just searching for the notification displayarea of the notification generation. According to various embodiments,when the object displayed on the screen is changed, for example, whenother objects are displayed on the screen according to an execution ofanother function, since the object positioned in the area displaying thenotification may not be shown, the controller 210 may control to moveand display the notification to and on a notification display area whichis newly searched in a previous notification display area by searchingfor the notification display area again.

In addition, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure,the controller 210 may control to move and display the notificationdisplayed on the display 250 on the screen based on the gesture of theuser related to at least one object. The controller 210 may control tocollect sensing information according to the gesture of the user on thescreen through various sensors included in the electronic device, andmay control to store the collected sensing information as information onthe user gesture. The information on the user gesture may include, forexample, at least one of information on a movement (e.g., at least oneof a hand movement, and a chase of an eye) of a user's body, user'svoice information and user input information using an input means (e.g.,a pen). In addition, the information on the user gesture may includevarious pieces of gesture information. In addition, the information onthe user gesture may be collected at the time point when thenotification is generated, or may be collected when an event for theuser's gesture is generated on the screen. The information on the usergesture may be stored as use history information.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, when theevent for the gesture of the user is generated on the screen, thecontroller 210 may control to identify the area where the gesture of theuser is generated. For example, the controller 210 may control todisplay or move and display the notification displayed on the screen toand on a notification display area which is searched in a directionopposite to the identified area. In addition, according to variousembodiments, the controller 210 may search for at least one area wherethe gesture of the user is previously generated based on the use historyinformation, which is previously collected according to the gesture ofthe user on the screen and stored as the information on the gesture ofthe user, and may search for an area except for at least one searchedarea as the notification display area. In addition, the controller 210may control to display or move and display the generated notification toand on the searched notification display area.

In addition, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure,the controller 210 may search for the notification display area on thescreen displaying the first layer according to a result of an analysisof the first layer including at least one object.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, when theobject is displayed on some of the first layer, the controller 210 maydivide and search for at least one area of an area where the object isnot displayed, an area where the user gesture is not generated, and apredetermined area as the notification area. According to variousembodiments, the controller 210 may search for at least one area where auser's action is not generated among areas where the object is notdisplayed on the first layer as the notification display area.

In addition, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure,the controller 210 may identify the use frequency of the areas where thegesture of the user is generated based on the use history informationaccording to the gesture of the user on the screen. The controller 210may search for an area of which the identified use frequency is equalto, or lower than, a predetermined value as the notification displayarea. According to various embodiments, the controller 210 may searchfor the notification display area in a low sequence of at least one ofthe use frequency and importance based on the user history information.When the searched notification display area is an area where a currentuser gesture is generated, the controller 210 may control to display thegenerated notification on another searched notification display area ofwhich at least one of the use frequency and the importance is low. Thecontroller 210 may control to move and display the currently displayednotification to and on another searched notification display areaaccording to the user gesture generation after displaying thenotification on the searched notification display area.

In addition, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure,when the object is displayed on the whole area of the first layer, thecontroller 210 may identify the importance of the object in the areasdisplaying the object based on object attribute information, mayconfigure the priority of the areas according to the identifiedimportance, and may search for the notification display area accordingto a sequence of an area of which the configured priority is low.

In addition, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure,when the first layer including at least one object of the screen ischanged and displayed, the controller 210 may control to change at leastone of the size, the type, and the transparency of the notificationgenerated on an area of the first layer according to a change of thefirst layer to display the notification. According to variousembodiments of the present disclosure, when the notification displayedon the notification display area is selected, the controller 210 maycontrol to display a layer (e.g., a second layer or a third layer) forexecuting a function corresponding to the notification on the firstlayer including the object.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, thecontroller 210 may control to change at least one of the size, the typeand the transparency of an area displaying the second layer includingthe notification based on information on at least one object included inthe first layer in order to display the notification.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, when anadditional notification is generated, the controller 210 may control todisplay or move and display the additional notification to and onanother notification display area which does not cover a previousnotification on the screen. When the additional notification isgenerated, the controller 210 may control to search for anothernotification display area except for an area displaying the previousnotification and to display or move and display the additionallygenerated notification to and on the another searched notificationdisplay area, such that another notification display area does notoverlap the area display the previous notification. According to variousembodiments, when two or more notifications are displayed on the screen,the controller 210 may control to determine a priority of thenotifications and to control the notification such that the notificationof which the priority is low or the notification identified by the userdisappears on the screen. For example, when the controller 210determines the priority in a sequence of a notification generation time,the controller 210 may control to determine that a recently generatednotification is a high priority, and may control a notificationgenerated a long time ago to disappear on the screen. The controller 210may provide information capable of identifying the notification thatdisappeared on the screen through the notification displayed on thescreen. In addition, according to various embodiments, when two or morenotifications are generated, the controller 210 may generate a newnotification including the generated notifications, and may display thenewly generated notification on the searched notification display area.The newly generated notification may provide information on the numberof the generated notifications such that the user may identify thenumber of the generated notifications.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, thecontroller 210 of the electronic device may be at least a part of aprocessor, and may include, for example, a combination of one or more ofhardware, software, and firmware. According to various embodiments, thecontroller 210 may omit at least some of the above elements or mayfurther include an element for performing an image process operation inaddition to the above elements.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, at leastsome elements of the controller 210 of the electronic device mayinclude, in hardware, at least some of at least one processor includinga Central Processing Unit (CPU)/Micro Processing Unit (MPU), a memory(for example, a register and/or a Random Access Memory (RAM) to which atleast one piece of memory loading data is loaded, and a bus forinputting/outputting at least one piece of data to the processor and thememory. Further, the controller 210 may include, in software, apredetermined program routine or program data, which is loaded to thememory from a predetermined recording medium, to perform a functiondefined in the electronic device and operation-processed by theprocessor.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, thecommunication unit 220 (e.g., the communication interface 170 of FIG. 1)may communicate with another electronic device or an external deviceaccording to the control of the controller 210. According to variousembodiments, the communication unit 220 may transmit and receive, to andfrom the external device, data related to an operation executedaccording to the control of the controller 210. The communication unit220 may be connected to a network through a wireless or wiredcommunication through the communication interface. Alternatively, thecommunication unit 220 may communicate through a connection betweendevices. The wireless communication may include at least one of, forexample, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth (BT), Near Field Communication (NFC), GlobalPositioning System (GPS) and cellular communication (for example, LTE,LTE-A, CDMA, WCDMA, UMTS, WiBro, GSM or the like). The wiredcommunication may include at least one of, for example, a UniversalSerial Bus (USB), a High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI),Recommended Standard 232 (RS-232), and a Plain Old Telephone Service(POTS). The communication unit 220 may include all types ofcommunication schemes, which have been or are at this time widely knownor are foreseeable, obvious, or will be developed in the future as wellas the aforementioned communication schemes.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the inputunit 230 of the electronic device (for example, the input/outputinterface 150 of FIG. 1) may transfer, to the controller 210, variouspieces of information such as number and character information inputfrom the user, various function settings, and signals which are input inconnection with a control of functions of the electronic device.Further, the input unit 230 may support a user input for executing anapplication that supports a particular function. The input unit 230 mayinclude at least one of a key input means, such as a keyboard and akeypad, a touch input means, such as a touch sensor and a touch pad, asound source input means, a camera, and various sensors. The input unit230 may include a gesture input means. In addition, the input unit 230may include all types of input means which are being developed currentlyor will be developed in the future. In addition, according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure, the input unit 230 may receive,from a user, information input by the user, through the touch panel ofthe display 250 or the camera, and may transfer the input information tothe controller 210.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the inputunit 230 may transfer information on the gesture of the user receivedthrough the camera or various sensors to the controller 210. Inaddition, the input unit 230 may transfer a selection input signal forthe object displayed on the screen or the notification to the controller210.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the storageunit 240 of the electronic device (e.g., the memory 130 of FIG. 1) maytemporarily store a program used in a function operation according tovarious embodiments and various pieces of data generated in a programexecution. The storage unit 240 may largely include a program area and adata area. The program area may store pieces of information related tothe driving of the electronic device, such as an Operating System (OS)that boots the electronic device. The data area may storetransmitted/received data or generated data according to variousembodiments. Further, the storage unit 240 may include at least onestorage medium of a flash memory, a hard disk, a multimedia card microtype memory (for example, an SD or XD memory), a RAM, and a ROM.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the storageunit 240 may include a database storing information on an analysisresult of the objects displayed on the first layer of the screen and adata base storing information on the gesture of the user.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the display250 (e.g., some component of the input/output interface 150 or thedisplay 160 of FIG. 1) of the electronic device may output operationexecution result information (e.g., at least one of a text, an image anda video) according to the control of the controller 210.

The display 250 may display an input pad (e.g., button) capable ofinputting at least one of various characters, a number, and a symbol toan input window on the screen in various methods. Further, the display250 may display a service execution screen according to an execution ofvarious applications related to information transmission/reception. Inaddition, the display 250 may display the plurality of layers on thescreen according to the control of the controller 210, and may displaythe first layer including at least one object on the foundation. Inaddition, the display 250 may display the notification on the firstlayer under the control of the controller 210, and may display thenotification that is moved based on the gesture of the user.

In addition, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure,when the display 250 of the electronic device is implemented in thetouch screen form, the display 250 may correspond to a touch screen ofan input unit (not shown). When the display 250 is implemented in thetouch screen form together with the input unit 230, the display 250 maydisplay various pieces of information generated according to a user'stouch action.

In addition, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure,when the display 250 of the electronic device divides and uses thescreen, if the user uses the object displayed on a divided first screen,that is, if the gesture of the user is generated in the divided firstscreen, the display 250 may display the notification on a divided secondscreen under the control of the controller 210. In addition, accordingto various embodiments, the display 250 of the electronic device may beconfigured by one or more of a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), a Thin Filmtransistor LCD (TFT-LCD), an Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED), LED,Active Matrix OLED (AMOLED), a flexible display, and a 3 dimensionaldisplay. In addition, some of the displays may be implemented in atransparent type or a light transmission type so that the outside can beseen therethrough. The display may be implemented in a transparentdisplay form including Transparent OLED (TOLED).

In addition, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure,the electronic device may further include another display (e.g., anexpanded display or a flexible display) installed in the electronicdevice, in addition to the display 250. The electronic device mayfurther include a display of another external electronic device (e.g.,at least one of an external display device, a wearable device and anexternal terminal device) linked with the electronic device.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, theelectronic device may further include an audio module (not shown) (e.g.,the input/output interface 150 of FIG. 1). The audio module may output asound. For example, the audio module may include at least one of anaudio codec, a microphone (MIC), a receiver, an earphone output (i.e.,EARL) and a speaker. In addition, according to various embodiments ofthe present disclosure, the electronic device may further include ameans for outputting a vibration or a means for outputting a smell.

As described above, the elements of the electronic device according tovarious embodiments are described in relation to the electronic deviceof FIG. 2. However, not all elements illustrated in FIG. 2 are necessarycomponents. The electronic device may be implemented by a larger numberof elements than the illustrated elements or a smaller number ofelements than the illustrated elements. In addition, the positions ofthe elements of the electronic device described through FIG. 2 arechangeable according to various embodiments.

An electronic device according to one among various embodiments of thepresent disclosure may comprise: a display that displays at least oneobject on a screen; and a controller that controls to determine anotification display area for displaying a notification on the screenbased on a gesture of a user related to at least one object displayed onthe screen, and to display the notification in at least one determinednotification display area.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, thecontroller may control to move and display the notification, which isdisplayed on the display, on the screen, based on the gesture of theuser related to at least one object.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, thenotification display area may be determined based on information on thegesture of the user and information on at least one object displayed onthe screen.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, thecontroller may control to display at least one object in first layer ofthe screen including a plurality of layers, and controls to display thenotification on some of the screen in a second layer located on thefirst layer.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, when anevent for the gesture of the user is generated on the screen, thecontroller may identify an area where the gesture of the user isgenerated, and may search for the notification display area in an areaexcept for the identified area.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, thecontroller may search for the notification display area based on usehistory information according to the gesture of the user, which ispreviously generated on the screen.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, when atleast one object is displayed on the whole area of the screen, thecontroller may control to transparently display the notification on afirst layer on which at least one object is displayed.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, when atleast one object is displayed on some area of a first layer, thecontroller may search for at least one area among an where at least oneobject is not displayed, an area where the gesture of the user is notgenerated, and a determined area as the notification display area.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, thecontroller may search for the notification display area based on apriority of an area where the gesture of the user is not generated in anarea where at least one object is not displayed.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, when thereis not the area where at least one object is not displayed, thecontroller may identify a use frequency of at least one area where thegesture of the user is generated based on use history informationaccording to the gesture of the user previously generated on the screen,and may search for an area where the use frequency is equal to, orsmaller than, a predetermined value as the notification display area.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, thecontroller may search for the notification display area in a low usefrequency sequence, and when the gesture of the user is generated in thesearched notification display area, the controller may search foranother notification display area of which the use frequency is nextlowest, except for the area where the gesture of the user is generated.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, thecontroller may identify the importance of at least one object based onattribute information on at least one object, may configure a priorityof at least one object according to information on the identifiedimportance, and may search for an area where an object of which theconfigured priority is low is displayed as the notification displayarea.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, when thenotification displayed on the notification display area is selected, thecontroller may control to execute a function corresponding to thenotification.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, thecontroller may control to change at least one of the size, the type, andthe transparency of the notification based on information on at leastone object, and to display the notification.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, when anadditional notification is generated on the screen, the controllercontrols to move the additional notification to another notificationdisplay area where the additional notification does not cover thenotification, and to display the additional notification.

A method for an image processing in an electronic device as describedabove is described specifically with reference to accompanying figures.

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating an operation procedure for processing anotification in an electronic device according to various embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 5, in operation 501, an electronic device (e.g., theelectronic device 101 of FIG. 1) according to various embodiments of thepresent disclosure may display at least one object on a screen. At leastone object may be included in a first layer, and may be displayed in anoverlay type on the screen.

In operation 503, the electronic device may identify a gesture of a userrelated to at least one object on the screen.

In operation 505, the electronic device may determine a notificationdisplay area for displaying a notification based on the gesture of theuser related to at least one object. According to various embodiments,the electronic device may analyze the first layer, and may search forthe notification display area based on at least one of information on atleast one object included in the first layer and information on thegesture of the user. In addition, according to various embodiments, theelectronic device may identify an area where the object is not displayedbased on the information on at least one object, and may search for thearea according to the gesture of the user among the identified areas,and may determine that the searched area is the notification displayarea. In addition, according to various embodiments, the electronicdevice may determine a priority of the searched notification displayarea according to history information of the user.

In operation 507, the electronic device may display the notification inthe determined notification display area.

Referring to accompanying FIGS. 6A and 6B, the electronic device maydisplay an area (e.g., indicator) 601 fixed on the screen or an objectdisplay layer (e.g., the first layer) including at least one object 603,605, or 607, and may display a notification 609 that includes varioussizes and types on the first layer. In addition, the electronic devicemay move and display a currently displayed notification 609 to and on anotification display area 611 searched on the object display layer basedon the information on the object and the information on the usergesture. The object display layer may include one or more layers, andvarious types of objects may be displayed on one or more layers.

According to various embodiments, as shown in accompanying FIGS. 7A and7B, when a notification 701 is generated on a search window 703 of thescreen, the electronic device may move and display the notification 701to and on a searched notification area 705. In addition, according tovarious embodiments, as shown in accompanying FIGS. 8A and 8B, when anotification 801 is generated on a pop-up window 803 displayed on thescreen, the electronic device may move and display the notification 801to and on a searched notification area 805, which does not overlap thepop-up window 803. In addition, according to various embodiments, asshown in accompanying FIGS. 9A and 9B, when a notification 901 isgenerated on an object 903 displayed on the screen, the electronicdevice may move and display the notification 901 to and on a searchednotification area 905, which does not overlap the object 903. Inaddition, according to various embodiments, as shown in accompanyingFIGS. 10A and 10B, when a notification 1001 is generated on an importantbutton or a fixed area (e.g., an indicator) 1003 displayed on thescreen, the electronic device may move and display the notification 1001to and on a searched notification display area 1005, which does notoverlap the important button or the fixed area 1003. In addition,according to various embodiments, as shown in accompanying FIGS. 11A and11B, when a notification 1101 is generated on a keypad 1103 displayed onthe screen, the electronic device may move and display the notification1101 to and on a searched notification display area 1105, which does notoverlap the keypad 1103.

According to various embodiments, as shown in accompanying FIG. 12, theelectronic device may display an object display layer (e.g., the firstlayer) 1203 including at least one object on the screen, for example, afoundation. When the first layer 1203 is displayed on the whole area orthe whole area where the object display is possible except for a fixedarea, and a notification is generated, the electronic device may displaythe notification 1201 on some area of the first layer 1203. Thenotification 1201 may be positioned on the first layer 1203, and may bedisplayed transparently on some area of the screen.

According to various embodiments, as shown in accompanying FIG. 13A, theelectronic device may display the first layer on some area of thescreen, or may transparently display some area of the first layer 1303displayed on the whole area of the screen. The electronic device maydetermine the some area or the transparently displayed area as anotification display area 1305, and may display a notification 1301 onthe determined notification display area 1305. In addition, according tovarious embodiments, as shown in accompanying FIG. 13B, when the gestureof the user is generated, the electronic device may determine an area(e.g., use area) 1307 currently concentrated by the user on the firstlayer 1303 based on the information (e.g., currently generated gestureinformation) on the gesture of the user. The electronic device maysearch for the notification display area 1305 in an area except for thedetermined use area 1307, and may display the notification 1301 in thesearched notification display area 1305. In addition, according tovarious embodiments, as shown in accompanying FIG. 13C, the electronicdevice may identify information (e.g., use history information) on thegesture of the user, which is previously generated and stored, maydetermine an area 1309 where the gesture is generated, may search forthe notification display area 1305 in an area except for the determinedarea 1309, and may display the notification 1301 in the searchednotification display area 1305.

Referring to accompanying FIGS. 14A and 14B, according to variousembodiments, when a first layer 1403 is overlaid and displayed on thewhole area of the screen, and the notification is generated, as shown inFIG. 14A, the electronic device may display the generated notification1401 in an area on the first layer 1403. In addition, as shown in FIG.14B, the electronic device may display the notification 1401transparently so as not to cover the object of the area displayed on thefirst layer 1403. The notification 1401 may gradually become transparentafter the notification 1401 is displayed during a predetermined time.Alternatively, if the gesture of the user is generated in acorresponding area, after the notification is displayed transparently,when the user gesture is generated in another area or a predeterminedtime has elapsed, the notification may be displayed in an originalstate.

Referring to accompanying FIG. 15, according to various embodiments,when there is an area where the object is not displayed on the firstlayer, the electronic device may analyze the first layer, and mayidentify an important object 1503, 1505, 1507 a, 1507 b, or 1509 watchedby the user or determined as an object of which the importance is highin an executed application among the plurality of analyzed objects. Theelectronic device may search for the notification display area so as notto cover the identified important object, and may display a notification1501 in the searched area. In addition, referring to accompanying FIGS.16A to 16E, according to various embodiments, the electronic device mayidentify the level of the overlap of the objects displayed on the firstlayer and the notification. As shown in FIGS. 16A, 16B, 16D, and 16E,when the level of the overlap is equal to, or larger than, apredetermined value, the electronic device may display (e.g., fadeout)the overlapped notification area or the overlapped object area such thatthe overlapped notification area or the overlapped object area becomesthin gradually. Alternatively, the electronic device may display theoverlapped notification area or the overlapped object transparently. Inaddition, the electronic device may change the size or the type of thenotification and the object such that the notification and the object donot overlap and display.

Referring to accompanying FIGS. 17A to 17B, according to variousembodiments, the electronic device may determine that an area oppositeto the area (e.g., scrolled area) 1703, 1705, 1707, or 1709 where thegesture of the user is generated is the notification display area, andmay display a generated notification 1701 in the determined notificationdisplay area.

A method of processing a notification in an electronic device, accordingto one among various embodiments of the present disclosure, maycomprises displaying at least one object on a screen; determining anotification display area for displaying a notification on the screenbased on a gesture of a user related to at least one object displayed onthe screen, and displaying the notification in at least one determinednotification display area.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the methodmay further comprises moving and displaying the displayed notification,on the screen, based on the gesture of the user related to at least oneobject.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, thenotification display area may be determined based on information on thegesture of the user and information on at least one object displayed onthe screen.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, thedetermining the notification display area may comprises identifying anarea where the gesture of the user is generated when an event for thegesture of the user is generated on the screen, and searching for thenotification display area in an area except for the identified area.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, thedetermining the notification display area may comprise searching for thenotification display area based on use history information according tothe gesture of the user, which is previously generated on the screen.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, thedetermining the notification display area may comprise searching for atleast one area among an area where at least one object is not displayed,an area where the gesture of the user is not generated, and a determinedarea, as the notification display area, when at least one object isdisplayed on some area of a first layer of the screen that includes aplurality of layers.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, thedetermining the notification display area may comprise searching for thenotification display area based on a priority of an area where thegesture of the user is not generated in an area where at least oneobject is not displayed.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, thedetermining the notification display area may comprises identifying ause frequency of at least one area where the gesture of the user isgenerated based on use history information according to the gesture ofthe user previously generated on the screen, when there is not the areawhere at least one object is not displayed, and searching for an areawhere the identified use frequency is equal to, or smaller than, apredetermined value as the notification display area.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, thedetermining the notification display area may further comprise searchingfor another notification display area of which the use frequency is nextlow, except for the area where the gesture of the user is generated,when the gesture of the user is generated in the searched notificationdisplay area.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, thedetermining the notification display area may comprises identifying theimportance of at least one object based on attribute information on atleast one object, configuring a priority of at least one objectaccording to information on the identified importance, and searching foran area where an object of which the configured priority is low isdisplayed as the notification display area.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the methodmay further comprise executing a function corresponding to thenotification, when the notification displayed on the notificationdisplay area is selected.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, thedisplaying the notification may comprise changing at least one of thesize, the type, and the transparency of the notification based oninformation on at least one object, and displaying the notification.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the methodmay further comprise moving an additional notification to anothernotification display area where the additional notification does notcover the notification and displaying the additional notification whenthe additional notification is generated on the screen.

A more specific operation procedure for displaying a notification in anelectronic device according to the operation procedure in the electronicdevice, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure asdescribed above, is specifically described with reference toaccompanying figures.

FIG. 18 is a view illustrating an operation procedure for processing anotification in an electronic device according to various embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 18, in operation 1801, an electronic device (e.g., theelectronic device 101 of FIG. 1), according to various embodiments ofthe present disclosure, may display an object layer (e.g., a firstlayer) including at least one object on a screen. The first layer may bedisplayed on a foundation displayed on the screen. Alternatively, thefirst layer may be overlaid and displayed on some, or the whole, area ofthe first layer. In addition, the first layer may be displayed on thewhole area of the first layer. Here, an area where the object is notdisplayed may be displayed transparently.

In operation 1803, the electronic device may identify whether thenotification is generated or not. As a result of the identification,when the notification is not generated, the electronic device mayperform operation 1801. When the notification is generated, theelectronic device may perform operation 1805.

In operation 1805, the electronic device may analyze the first layer.The electronic device may identify an area where the object is displayedon the first layer and an area where the object is not displayed.

In operation 1807, the electronic device may display the notificationgenerated according to the analysis result of the first layer such thata second layer is included in some area on the first layer. That is, theelectronic device may display the generated notification in the areawhere the object is not displayed.

In operation 1809, the electronic device may identify whether the usergesture is generated. As a result of the identification, when the usergesture is not generated, the electronic device may perform operation1807. When the user action is generated, the electronic device mayperform operation 1811.

In operation 1811, the electronic device may search for a notificationdisplay area for moving and displaying a currently displayednotification based on the user gesture.

In operation 1813, the electronic device may move and display thecurrently displayed notification to the searched notification displayarea.

In operation 1815, the electronic device may identify whether thedisplayed notification is selected. When the displayed notification isselected by the user, the electronic device may perform operation 1817.When the displayed notification is not selected, the electronic devicemay perform operation 1815 again.

In operation 1817, the electronic device may perform a function providedfrom the notification. According to various embodiments, the electronicdevice may expand and display the notification in order to provide afunction related to the selected notification, or may display anothernotification on the first layer. In addition, according to variousembodiments, the electronic device may display a new layer (e.g., athird layer) including at least one object providing a function relatedto the selected notification in the whole, or some, area on the layer(e.g., a second layer) displaying the notification.

FIGS. 19A to 21B are views illustrating a display example of anotification in an electronic device according to various embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

Referring to FIGS. 19A to 19C, as shown in FIG. 19A, the electronicdevice according to various embodiments may display a first layer 1901on the screen, and may display a second layer including a notification1903 on the first layer 1901. The electronic device may identify theuser gesture (e.g., a scroll action of the user). According to variousembodiments, as shown in FIG. 19B, when the scroll action moves upward,the electronic device may determine that the user watches a lower areaof the screen. The electronic device may move and display thenotification 1903 displayed in the lower area to and in the upper areaopposite to the area where the user gesture is generated. In addition,according to various embodiments, as shown in FIG. 19C, when the scrollaction moves downward on the screen, the electronic device may determinethat the user watches the upper area of the screen. The electronicdevice may move and display the notification 1903 displayed in the upperarea to and in the lower area opposite to the area where the usergesture is generated.

Referring to FIGS. 20A to 20C, as shown in FIG. 20A, the electronicdevice may display a first layer 2001 on the screen, and may display asecond layer including a notification 2003 on the first layer 2001. Whenthe user gesture (e.g., a scroll action of the user) 2005 is generated,as shown in FIG. 20B, the electronic device may move the notification2003 downward such that the notification 2003 is not shown in a currentscreen. As shown in FIG. 20C, the electronic device may enable thenotification 2003 to disappear in the screen in order to moreprominently display the first layer 2001. The notification 2003 thatdisappeared in the screen may be displayed again, after a predeterminedtime, on the first layer 2001 when a specific gesture of the user isgenerated, a button is input, or a scroll operation is finished. Whenthe electronic device displays the notification 2003 again, theelectronic device may display the notification 2003 in a previousnotification area. Alternatively, the electronic device may search for anotification area again in the first layer 2001, which is scrolled andcurrently displayed, and may display the notification 2003 in thesearched new notification area.

In addition, according to various embodiments, when the user gesture(e.g., a scroll operation of the user) 2005 is generated, the electronicdevice may gradually display the notification displayed on the firstlayer thinly or transparently. The electronic device may display thethinly or transparently displayed notification again on the first layerwhen a specific gesture of the user is generated, a button is input, ora scroll operation is finished after a predetermined time has elapsed.

According to various embodiments, the electronic device may obtaininformation on the chase of an eye of a user using a sensor (e.g., acamera sensor) for an eye chase. The electronic device may identify anarea where the user currently watches on the screen on which anapplication is executed based on the obtained information on the eyechase of the user. In addition, the electronic device may chase eye ofthe user positioned far as well as the user positioned closely.Referring to FIGS. 21A and 21B, according to various embodiments of thepresent disclosure, the electronic device may determine an area (e.g., atop area 2103 or a central area 2107) where the user currently watches,based on information according to the eye chase, and may move anddisplay a notification 2101 to and in an area 2105 or 2109 opposite tothe determined area 2103 or 2107.

FIG. 22 is a view illustrating an operation procedure for processing anotification in an electronic device according to various embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 22, in operation 2201, an electronic device (e.g., theelectronic device 101 of FIG. 1), according to various embodiments ofthe present disclosure, may display an object layer (e.g., a firstlayer) including at least one object on a screen. The first layer isdisplayed on a foundation layer. The first layer may be overlaid anddisplayed on some area or the whole area on the first layer. The firstlayer may be displayed in the whole area of the first layer and an areawhere an object is not displayed may be displayed transparently.

In operation 2203, the electronic device may collect and store usehistory information according to a user gesture. According to variousembodiments, when a user gesture event is generated on the first layer,the electronic device collects information (e.g., at least one of ascroll, a touch, a drag, a swipe, and an eye chase of the user)according to the generated user gesture event, and may store thecollected information in an information DB related to the user gestureas the use history information. In addition, the electronic device maydetermine an area where the user gesture is generated based on thecollected information, and may store position information of thedetermined area where the user gesture is generated as the use historyinformation.

In operation 2205, the electronic device may identify whether thenotification is generated. As a result of the identification, when thenotification is not generated, the electronic device may performoperation 2203. When the notification is generated, the electronicdevice may perform operation 2207.

In operation 2207, the electronic device may analyze the first layer,and may identify an area where an object is displayed on the first layerand an area where the object is not displayed.

In operation 2209, the electronic device may search for a notificationdisplay area for displaying the generated notification based on theanalysis result of the first layer and the stored use historyinformation. That is, the electronic device may search for the areawhere the object is not displayed and an area where the gesture of theuser is not generated in the past.

In operation 2211, the electronic device may display the generatednotification in the searched notification display area.

In operation 2213, the electronic device may identify whether thedisplayed notification is selected. When the displayed notification isselected by the user, the electronic device may perform operation 2215.When the displayed notification is not selected, the electronic devicemay perform operation 2211 again.

In operation 2215, the electronic device may perform a function providedfrom the notification. According to various embodiments, the electronicdevice may expand and display the notification in order to provide afunction related to the selected notification, or may display anothernotification on the first layer. In addition, according to variousembodiments, the electronic device may display a new layer (e.g., athird layer) including at least one object providing a function relatedto the selected notification on the layer (e.g., a second layer)displaying the notification.

FIGS. 23A to 27E are views illustrating a display example of anotification in an electronic device according to various embodiments ofthe present disclosure. FIG. 28 is a view illustrating an example oflayers displayed on a screen in an electronic device according tovarious embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIGS. 23A and 23B, the electronic device may display a mainbutton 2301 a, 2301 b or 2301 c displayed on the screen of theelectronic device or at least one object (e.g., contents) 2303, and maydisplay a pop-up window 2305 c on a first layer. In addition, forexample, as shown in FIG. 23B, the electronic device may display ascreen 2305 a or 2305 b on which an object is moved according to ascroll operation. The electronic device may detect at least one of thenumber, position, importance and time according to the use or the scrolloperation of the displayed main button 2301 a, 2301 b or 2301 c, thepop-up window 2305 c, and at least one object (e.g., contents) 2303, andmay generate the detected result as use history information. Inaddition, the electronic device may identify an area where the use orthe scroll operation of the main button 2301 a, 2301 b, or 2301 cdisplayed on the first layer using the use history information, thepop-up window 2305 c, and at least one object 2303 is generated. Theelectronic device may search for some area among areas except for theidentified area as the notification display area.

Referring to FIGS. 24A and 24B, the electronic device may identify anarea 2401 a, 2401 b, 2403 a, or 2403 b where a gesture of a user isgenerated in the past based on the use history information previouslystored according to the gesture of the user. The electronic device maydivide an area except for the identified area 2401 a, 2401 b, 2403 a, or2403 b, may search for a notification display area in the divided area2405, and may display a notification 2407 generated in the searchednotification area. According to various embodiments, when the electronicdevice uses the main button 2301 a or 2301 b, or at least one object2303 of FIG. 23, information (e.g., at least one of the position, theuse number, the importance, and the time) on a first area 2401 a or 2401b of FIGS. 24A and 24B may be generated as the use history information.In addition, according to various embodiments, when the electronicdevice uses information according to the use of the scroll operation2303, or the main button 2301 c and the pop-up window 2305 c,information (e.g., at least one of the position, the use number, theimportance, and the time) on a second area 2403 a or 2403 b of FIGS. 24Aand 24B may be generated as the use history information. In addition,according to various embodiments, the electronic device may determine apriority according to the main button, the object, the use of anothernotification, the use number (or frequency) according to the usergesture operation, or the importance. The electronic device may searchfor an empty area adjacent to an area of the use history information ofwhich the priority is low as the notification display area. According tovarious embodiments, the electronic device may search for thenotification display area in a low use frequency sequence. When the usergesture is generated in the searched notification display area, theelectronic device may search for another notification display area ofwhich the use frequency is next low except for the area where the usergesture is generated.

In addition, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure,as shown in FIGS. 25A and 25B, the electronic device may display a firstlayer 2503 including at least one object on the screen, and when thenotification is generated, the electronic device may display a secondlayer 2505 including the generated notification 2501. Some area of thefirst layer 2503 may be overlaid on the second layer 2505 and the secondlayer 2505 may be displayed. According to various embodiments, thesecond layer 2505 may not perform a dim process on the whole area of thefirst layer 2503, may perform a dim process on some area of the firstlayer 2503, or may process the first layer 2503 transparently to displaythe first layer 2503 such that the objects displayed on the first layer2503 may be identified.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, as shown inFIGS. 26A and 26B, the electronic device may display a notification 2605for a function corresponding to a notification 2601 that is differentaccording to the gesture (e.g., a scroll operation 2603) of the user.According to the display of another notification 2601, the electronicdevice may not perform a dim process on the whole area of the secondlayer. The second layer may be moved and the dim process may beperformed on some area of the second layer, or the second layer may betransparently processed such that an object of the first layer may beidentified.

In addition, referring to FIGS. 27A to 27E, in a state in which anotification 2701 is displayed on the screen, for example, theelectronic device may display an indicator 2703 or another notification2705, 2707 or 2709. In an embodiment, the electronic device may searchfor another notification display area, and may display or move anddisplay another newly generated notification 2705, 2707 or 2709 to andon another searched notification display area, such that the indicator2703 or another notification 2705, 2707 or 2709 does not overlap thepreviously displayed notification 2701. As shown in FIG. 28, anothernotification 2705, 2707 or 2709 may be included in a third layer 2805displayed on a second layer 2803 displaying the notification 2701, andmay be displayed. The second layer 2803 may be displayed on a firstlayer 2801 including at least one object.

FIGS. 29A to 30B are views illustrating a display example of anotification in an electronic device according to various embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

Referring to FIGS. 29A to 29D, according to various embodiments of thepresent disclosure, as shown in FIG. 29A, the electronic device maydisplay an object 2901 a included in a first layer, and may display anotification 2903 a on the first layer. As shown in FIGS. 29B and 29C,when objects 2901 b and 2901 c displayed on the first layer is expanded,since notifications 2903 b and 2903 c overlap the objects 2901 b and2901 c, the electronic device may change the sizes or types of thenotifications 2903 b and 2903 c. As shown in FIG. 29D, when an object2901 d is more expanded and overlaps the notification 2901 d, theelectronic device may display the notification 2901 d in at least one ofa point type or a line type such that the notification 2901 d is todisappear. Referring to FIGS. 30A and 30B, according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure, the electronic device may displaythe first layer including an object on a screen 3003 of a first display,and may display a notification 3001 on the first layer. After thenotification 3001 is displayed or when the notification 3001 isgenerated, the electronic device may move the notification 3001 to ascreen 3005 of a second display to display the notification 3001 on thescreen 3005 of the second display. The second display may includeanother display (e.g., an expanded display or a flexible display)installed in the electronic device, and a display of another externalelectronic device (e.g., at least one of an external display device, awearable device and an external terminal device) linked with theelectronic device. The screen 3005 of the second display may display thecurrently generated notification 3001 together with previously generatednotifications, and may change a display state (e.g., at least one of adisplay, an addition, and a deletion of notification historyinformation) of notifications displayed according to a configuration ofa user.

In addition, according to various embodiments, when the electronicdevice divides and uses a screen of a display, for example when a useruses an object displayed on a divided first screen, that is, for examplewhen a gesture of the user is generated in the divided first screen, theelectronic device may display a notification in a divided second screen.

FIG. 31 is a block diagram of an electronic device 3101 according tovarious embodiments. The electronic device 3101 may include, forexample, the whole or part of the electronic device 101 illustrated inFIG. 1. The electronic device 3101 may include at least one ApplicationProcessor (AP) 3110, a communication module 3120, a subscriberidentification module 3124, a memory 3130, a sensor module 3140, aninput device 3150, a display 3160, an interface 3170, an audio module3180, a camera module 3191, a power management module 3195, a battery3196, an indicator 3197, and a motor 3198.

The processor 3110 may control a plurality of hardware or softwarecomponents connected to the processor 3110 by driving an operatingsystem or an application program and perform processing of variouspieces of data and calculations. The processor 3110 may be implementedby, for example, a System on Chip (SoC). According to an embodiment, theprocessor 3110 may further include a Graphic Processing Unit (GPU)and/or an image signal processor. The processor 3110 may include atleast some (for example, a cellular module 3121) of the elementsillustrated in FIG. 31. The processor 3110 may load, into a volatilememory, instructions or data received from at least one (for example, anon-volatile memory) of the other elements and may process the loadedinstructions or data, and may store various data in a non-volatilememory.

The communication module 3120 may include a configuration that is equal,or similar, to that of the communication interface 170 of FIG. 1. Thecommunication module 3120 may include, for example, a cellular module3121, a Wi-Fi module 3123, a Bluetooth module 3125, a GNSS module 3127(e.g., a GPS module, a Glonass module, a Beidou module, or a Galileomodule), an NFC module 3128, and a Radio Frequency (RF) module 3129.

The cellular module 3121 may provide a voice call, an image call, a textmessage service, or an Internet service through, for example, acommunication network. According to an embodiment, the cellular module3121 may distinguish between and authenticate electronic devices 3101within a communication network using a subscriber identification module(for example, the SIM card 3124). According to an embodiment, thecellular module 3121 may perform at least some of the functions that theprocessor 3110 may provide. According to an embodiment, the cellularmodule 3121 may include a Communication Processor (CP).

The Wi-Fi module 3123, the Bluetooth module 3125, the GNSS module 3127,or the NFC module 3128 may include, for example, a processor thatprocesses data transmitted and received through the correspondingmodule. According to some embodiments, at least some (two or more) ofthe cellular module 3121, the Wi-Fi module 3123, the BT module 3125, theGNSS module 3127, and the NFC module 3128 may be included in oneIntegrated Chip (IC) or IC package.

The RF module 3129 may transmit/receive, for example, a communicationsignal (for example, an RF signal). The RF module 3129 may include, forexample, a transceiver, a Power Amp Module (PAM), a frequency filter, aLow Noise Amplifier (LNA), or an antenna. According to anotherembodiment of the present disclosure, at least one of the cellularmodule 3121, the Wi-Fi module 3123, the BT module 3125, the GNSS module3127, and the NFC module 3128 may transmit/receive an RF signal througha separate RF module.

The subscriber identification module 3124 may include, for example, acard including a subscriber identity module and/or an embedded SIM, andmay contain unique identification information (for example, anIntegrated Circuit Card Identifier (ICCID)) or subscriber information(for example, an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI)).

The memory 3130 (for example, the memory 130) may include, for example,an internal memory 3132 or an external memory 3134. The internal memory3132 may include at least one of, for example, a volatile memory (forexample, a Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), a Static RAM (SRAM), aSynchronous Dynamic RAM (SDRAM), and the like) and a non-volatile memory(for example, a One Time Programmable Read Only Memory (OTPROM), aProgrammable ROM (PROM), an Erasable and Programmable ROM (EPROM), anElectrically Erasable and Programmable ROM (EEPROM), a mask ROM, a flashROM, a flash memory (for example, a NAND flash memory or a NOR flashmemory), a hard driver, or a Solid State Drive (SSD).

The external memory 3134 may further include a flash drive, for example,a Compact Flash (CF), a Secure Digital (SD), a Micro Secure Digital(Micro-SD), a Mini Secure Digital (Mini-SD), an eXtreme Digital (xD), amemory stick, or the like. The external memory 3134 may be functionallyand/or physically connected to the electronic device 3101 throughvarious interfaces.

The sensor module 3140 may measure a physical quantity or detect anoperation state of the electronic device 3101, and may convert themeasured or detected information into an electrical signal. The sensormodule 3140 may include, for example, at least one of a gesture sensor3140A, a gyro sensor 3140B, an atmospheric pressure sensor 3140C, amagnetic sensor 3140D, an acceleration sensor 3140E, a grip sensor3140F, a proximity sensor 3140G, a color sensor 3140H (for example, ared, green, blue (RGB) sensor), a biometric sensor 3140I, atemperature/humidity sensor 3140J, a light sensor 3140K, and aultraviolet (UV) sensor 3140M. Additionally or alternatively, the sensormodule 3140 may include, for example, an E-nose sensor, anelectromyography (EMG) sensor, an electroencephalogram (EEG) sensor, anelectrocardiogram (ECG) sensor, an Infrared (IR) sensor, an iris sensor,and/or a fingerprint sensor. The sensor module 3140 may further includea control circuit for controlling one or more sensors included therein.In some embodiments, an electronic device 3101 may further include aprocessor configured to control the sensor module 3140 as a part of, orseparately from, the processor 3110, and may control the sensor module3140 when the processor 3110 is in a sleep state.

The input device 3150 may include, for example, a touch panel 3152, a(digital) pen sensor 3154, a key 3156, and an ultrasonic input unit3158. The touch panel 3152 may use at least one of, for example, acapacitive scheme, a resistive scheme, an infrared scheme, and anultrasonic scheme. Further, the touch panel 3152 may further include acontrol circuit. The touch panel 3152 may further include a tactilelayer and may provide a tactile reaction to the user.

The (digital) pen sensor 3154 may include, for example, a recognitionsheet, which is a part of the touch panel or is separated from the touchpanel. The key 3156 may include, for example, a physical button, anoptical key, or a keypad. The ultrasonic input device 3158 may detectultrasonic waves generated by an input tool through a microphone (forexample, the microphone 3188) and may identify data corresponding to thedetected ultrasonic waves.

The display 3160 (for example, the display 160) may include a panel3162, a hologram device 3164 or a projector 3166. The panel 3162 mayinclude a configuration that is identical, or similar, to that of thedisplay 160 illustrated in FIG. 1. The panel 3162 may be implemented tobe, for example, flexible, transparent, or wearable. The panel 3162 andthe touch panel 3152 may be implemented as one module. The hologram 3164may show a three dimensional image in the air by using an interferenceof light. The projector 3166 may display an image by projecting lightonto a screen. The screen may be located, for example, in the interiorof, or on the exterior of, the electronic device 3101. According to anexemplary embodiment, the display 3160 may further include a controlcircuit for controlling the panel 3162, the hologram device 3164, or theprojector 3166.

The interface 3170 may include, for example, a High-DefinitionMultimedia Interface (HDMI) 3172, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) 3174, anoptical interface 3176, or a D-subminiature (D-sub) 3178. The interface3170 may be included in, for example, the communication interface 170illustrated in FIG. 1. Additionally or alternatively, the interface 3170may include, for example, a Mobile High-definition Link (MHL) interface,a Secure Digital (SD) card/Multi-Media Card (MMC) interface, or anInfrared Data Association (IrDA) standard interface.

The audio module 3180 may bilaterally convert, for example, a sound andan electrical signal. At least some elements of the audio module 3180may be included in, for example, the input/output interface 150illustrated in FIG. 1. The audio module 3180 may process soundinformation that is input or output through, for example, a speaker3182, a receiver 3184, earphones 3186, the microphone 3188, or the like.

The camera module 3191 is a device which may photograph a still imageand a dynamic image. According to an embodiment, the camera module 291may include one or more image sensors (for example, a front sensor or aback sensor), a lens, an Image Signal Processor (ISP) or a flash (forexample, LED or xenon lamp).

The power management module 3195 may manage, for example, power of theelectronic device 3101. According to an embodiment, the power managementmodule 3195 may include a Power Management Integrated Circuit (PMIC), acharger Integrated Circuit (IC), or a battery or fuel gauge. The PMICmay use a wired and/or wireless charging method. Examples of thewireless charging method may include, for example, a magnetic resonancemethod, a magnetic induction method, an electromagnetic method, and thelike. Additional circuits (e.g., a coil loop, a resonance circuit, arectifier, etc.) for wireless charging may be further included. Thebattery gauge may measure, for example, a residual quantity of thebattery 3196, and a voltage, a current, or a temperature during thecharging. The battery 3196 may include, for example, a rechargeablebattery or a solar battery.

The indicator 3197 may indicate a state (for example, a booting state, amessage state, a charging state, or the like) of the electronic device3101 or a part (for example, the processor 3110) of the electronicdevice 3101. The motor 3198 may convert an electrical signal into amechanical vibration, and may generate a vibration, a haptic effect, orthe like. Although not illustrated, the electronic device 3101 mayinclude a processing unit (for example, a GPU) for supporting a mobiletelevision (TV). The processing unit for supporting mobile TV may, forexample, process media data according to a certain standard such asDigital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB), Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB),or mediaFLO®.

Each of the above-described component elements of hardware according tothe present disclosure may be configured with one or more components,and the names of the corresponding component elements may vary based onthe type of electronic device. The electronic device according tovarious embodiments of the present disclosure may include at least oneof the aforementioned elements. Some elements may be omitted or otheradditional elements may be further included in the electronic device.Also, some of the hardware components according to various embodimentsmay be combined into one entity, which may perform functions identicalto those of the relevant components before the combination.

FIG. 32 is a block diagram of a program module of an electronic deviceaccording to various embodiments. According to an embodiment, theprogram module 3210 (for example, the program 140) may include anOperating System (OS) for controlling resources related to theelectronic device (for example, the electronic device 101) and/orvarious applications (for example, the application programs 147)executed in the operating system. The operating system may be, forexample, Android, iOS, Windows, Symbian, Tizen, Bada, or the like.

The program module 3210 may include a kernel 3220, middleware 3230, anApplication Programming Interface (API) 3260, and/or applications 3270.At least some of the program module 3210 may be preloaded on theelectronic device, or may be downloaded from an external electronicdevice (for example, the electronic device 102 or 104, or the server106).

The kernel 3220 (for example, the kernel 141) may include, for example,a system resource manager 3221 and/or a device driver 3223. The systemresource manager 3221 may control, assign, or collect system resources.According to an embodiment, the system resource manager 3221 may includea process manager, a memory manager, or a file system manager. Thedevice driver 3223 may include, for example, a display driver, a cameradriver, a Bluetooth driver, a shared memory driver, a USB driver, akeypad driver, a Wi-Fi driver, an audio driver, or an Inter-ProcessCommunication (IPC) driver.

The middleware 3230 may provide a function used by the applications 3270in common or may provide various functions to the applications 3270through the API 3260 so that the applications 3270 can efficiently uselimited system resources within the electronic device. According to anembodiment, the middleware 3230 (for example, the middleware 143) mayinclude, for example, at least one of a runtime library 3235, anapplication manager 3241, a window manager 3242, a multimedia manager3243, a resource manager 3244, a power manager 3245, a database manager3246, a package manager 3247, a connectivity manager 3248, anotification manager 3249, a location manager 3250, a graphic manager3251, and a security manager 3252.

The runtime library 3235 may include, for example, a library module thata compiler uses in order to add new functions through a programminglanguage when the applications 3270 are executed. The runtime library3235 may perform input/output management, memory management, or afunction for an arithmetic function.

The application manager 3241 may, for example, manage a life cycle of atleast one of the applications 3270. The window manager 3242 may manageGraphical User Interface (GUI) resources used on a screen. Themultimedia manager 3243 may identify formats used for the reproductionof various media files and encode or decode a media file using a codecsuitable for the corresponding format. The resource manager 3244 maymanage resources of at least one of the applications 3270, such as asource code, a memory, and a storage space.

The power manager 3245 may operate together with, for example, a BasicInput/Output System (BIOS) to manage a battery or power and may providepower information used for the operation of the electronic device. Thedatabase manager 3246 may generate, search, or change a database to beused in at least one of the applications 3270. The package manager 3247may manage the installation or the updating of an applicationdistributed in the form of a package file.

The connectivity manager 3248 may manage a wireless connection, such as,for example, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. The notification manager 3249 maydisplay or notify of an event, such as an arrival message, anappointment, a proximity notification, and the like, in such a mannerthat a user is not disturbed. The location manager 3250 may managelocation information of the electronic device. The graphic manager 3251may manage a graphic effect to be provided to a user and a userinterface relating to the graphic effect. The security manager 3252 mayprovide all security functions used for system security or userauthentication. According to an embodiment, when the electronic device(for example, the electronic device 101) includes a telephone callfunction, the middleware 3230 may further include a telephony managerfor managing a voice call function or a video call function of theelectronic device.

The middleware 3230 may include a middleware module that formscombinations of various functions of the above described elements. Themiddleware 3230 may provide specialized modules according to types ofoperating systems in order to provide differentiated functions.Furthermore, the middleware 3230 may dynamically remove some of theexisting elements, or may add new elements.

The API 3260 (for example, the API 145) is, for example, a set of APIprogramming functions, and may be provided with a differentconfiguration according to an OS. For example, in an embodiment usingAndroid® or iOS®, one API set may be provided for each platform, and forexample, in an embodiment using Tizen®, two or more API sets may beprovided for each platform.

The applications 3270 (for example, the application programs 147) mayinclude, for example, one or more applications that can performfunctions, such as home 3271, dialer 3272, SMS/MMS 3273, Instant Message(IM) 3274, browser 3275, camera 3276, alarm 3277, contacts 3278, voicedial 3279, e-mail 3280, calendar 3281, media player 3282, album 3283,clock 3284, health care (for example, measure exercise quantity or bloodsugar), or environment information (for example, atmospheric pressure,humidity, temperature information or the like).

According to an embodiment, the applications 3270 may include anapplication (hereinafter, referred to as an “information exchangeapplication” for convenience of description) supporting informationexchange between the electronic device (for example, the electronicdevice 101) and an external electronic device (for example, theelectronic device 102 or 104). The information exchange application mayinclude, for example, a notification relay application for transferringspecific information to an external electronic device or a devicemanagement application for managing an external electronic device.

For example, the notification relay application may include a functionof transferring, to the external electronic device (for example, theelectronic device 102 or 104), notification information generated fromother applications of the electronic device 101 (for example, an SMS/MMSapplication, an e-mail application, a health management application, oran environmental information application). Further, the notificationrelay application may receive notification information from, forexample, an external electronic device and may provide the receivednotification information to a user.

The device management application may manage (for example, install,delete, or update), for example, at least one function of an externalelectronic device (for example, the electronic device 102 or 104)communicating with the electronic device (for example, a function ofturning on/off the external electronic device itself (or somecomponents) or a function of adjusting luminance (or a resolution) ofthe display), applications operating in the external electronic device,or services provided by the external electronic device (for example, acall service and a message service).

According to an embodiment, the applications 3270 may includeapplications (for example, a health care application of a mobile medicalappliance or the like) designated according to attributes of theexternal electronic device 102 or 104. According to an embodiment, theapplication 3270 may include an application received from the externalelectronic device (for example, the server 106, or the electronic device102 or 104). According to an embodiment, the applications 3270 mayinclude a preloaded application or a third party application that can bedownloaded from the server. Names of the elements of the program module3210, according to the above-described embodiments of the presentdisclosure, may change depending on the type of OS.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, at leastsome of the program module 3210 may be implemented in software,firmware, hardware, or a combination of two or more thereof. At leastsome of the program module 3210 may be implemented (e.g., executed) by,for example, the processor (e.g., the processor 210). At least some ofthe program module 3210 may include, for example, a module, a program, aroutine, a set of instructions, and/or a process for performing one ormore functions.

The term “module” as used herein may, for example, mean a unit includingone of hardware, software, and firmware or a combination of two or moreof them. The “module” may be interchangeably used with, for example, theterm “unit”, “logic”, “logical block”, “component”, or “circuit”. The“module” may be a minimum unit of an integrated component element or apart thereof. The “module” may be a minimum unit for performing one ormore functions or a part thereof. The “module” may be mechanically orelectronically implemented. For example, the “module” according to thepresent disclosure may include at least one of an Application-SpecificIntegrated Circuit (ASIC) chip, a Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA),and a programmable-logic device for performing operations which areknown or are to be developed hereinafter.

According to various embodiments, at least some of the devices (forexample, modules or functions thereof) or the method (for example,operations) according to the present disclosure may be implemented by acommand stored in a computer-readable storage medium in a programmingmodule form. The instruction, when executed by a processor (e.g., theprocessor 120), may cause the one or more processors to execute thefunction corresponding to the instruction. The computer-readable storagemedium may be, for example, the memory 130.

The computer readable recoding medium may include a hard disk, a floppydisk, magnetic media (e.g., a magnetic tape), optical media (e.g., aCompact Disc Read Only Memory (CD-ROM) and a Digital Versatile Disc(DVD)), magneto-optical media (e.g., a floptical disk), a hardwaredevice (e.g., a Read Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), aflash memory), and the like. In addition, the program instructions mayinclude high class language codes, which can be executed in a computerby using an interpreter, as well as machine codes made by a compiler.The aforementioned hardware device may be configured to operate as oneor more software modules in order to perform the operation of thepresent disclosure, and vice versa.

The module or the programming module according to the present disclosuremay include one or more of the aforementioned components or may furtherinclude other additional components, or some of the aforementionedcomponents may be omitted. Operations executed by a module, aprogramming module, or other component elements according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure may be executed sequentially, inparallel, repeatedly, or in a heuristic manner. Further, some operationsmay be executed according to another order or may be omitted, or otheroperations may be added.

According to various embodiments, in a computer-readable recordingmedium, which records a program performed on a computer, the program,which is executed by a processor may comprise: displaying at least oneobject on a screen; determining a notification display area fordisplaying a notification on the screen based on a gesture of a userrelated to at least one object displayed on the screen; and displayingthe notification in at least one determined notification display area.

Although the present disclosure is described using exemplaryembodiments, various changes and modifications may be suggested to oneskilled in the art. It is intended that the present disclosure encompasssuch changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic device comprising: a displayincluding a touch screen; a memory configured to store instructions; andat least one processor configured to execute the instructions to:control the display to display at least one object on the touch screen,control the display to display a floating object on a first position ofthe touch screen where the at least one object is not displayed, inresponse to identifying an event related to the at least one object on afirst area adjacent to the first position, identify a second position ofthe touch screen for moving the floating object, control the display tomove the floating object to the second position without user input, andcontrol the display to display the floating object on the secondposition avoiding the at least one object and the first area, whereinthe second position is a position in a second area of the touch screenwithout the at least one object being displayed.
 2. The electronicdevice of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is furtherconfigured to execute the instructions to: identify the first positionof the touch screen based on at least one of history informationassociated with a gesture of a user previously generated on the touchscreen and information associated with the at least one object.
 3. Theelectronic device of claim 1, wherein the second position of the touchscreen is identified based on at least one of information associatedwith a gesture related to the at least one object, history informationassociated with a gesture of a user previously generated on the touchscreen and information associated with the at least one object.
 4. Theelectronic device of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor isfurther configured to execute the instructions to change at least one ofa size, a type and a transparency of the floating object based oninformation associated with the at least one object.
 5. The electronicdevice of claim 1, wherein the event is at least one of an event of agesture of a user associated with the at least one object or an eventindicating that the at least one object or another object displayed onthe touch screen overlaps the floating object.
 6. The electronic deviceof claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured toexecute the instructions to: when the at least one object is displayedon a majority area of the touch screen, control the display totransparently display the floating object on a first layer including theat least one object.
 7. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the atleast one processor is further configured to execute the instructionsto: in response to receiving an input for selecting the floating object,change a first mode to a second mode, and control the display to displayone or more icons for executing one or more functions related to thefloating object in the second mode, and wherein the one or more iconsare displayed adjacent to the first position.
 8. The electronic deviceof claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured toexecute the instructions to: when there is not an area where the atleast one object is not displayed, identify a use frequency of at leastone area in the touch screen based on history information associatedwith a gesture of a user previously generated on the touch screen,identify a third position of the touch screen based on the usefrequency, and control the display to display the floating object on thethird position, and wherein the third position is a position where nogesture of the user occurs and the use frequency is equal to, or smallerthan, a predetermined value.
 9. The electronic device of claim 1,wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute theinstructions to: identify an importance of the at least one object basedon information associated with the at least one object, and search aposition for displaying the floating object based on the identifiedimportance.
 10. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the at leastone processor is further configured to execute the instructions to: inresponse to receiving an input for selecting the floating object,execute a function corresponding to the floating object, and in responseto displaying an additional floating object, control the display todisplay the additional floating object on a fourth position in an areawhere the additional floating object does not cover the floating object.11. A method of processing a floating object in an electronic device,the method comprising: displaying at least one object on a touch screenof a display of the electronic device; displaying a floating object on afirst position of the touch screen where the at least one object is notdisplayed; in response to identifying an event related to the at leastone object on a first area adjacent to the first position, identifying asecond position of the touch screen for moving the floating object;moving the floating object to the second position without user input;and displaying the floating object on the second position avoiding theat least one object and the first area, wherein the second position is aposition in a second area of the touch screen without the at least oneobject being displayed.
 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:identifying the first position of the touch screen based on at least oneof history information associated with a gesture of a user previouslygenerated on the touch screen and information associated with the atleast one object.
 13. The method of claim 11, further comprising:changing at least one of a size, a type and a transparency of thefloating object based on information associated with the at least oneobject, wherein the second position of the touch screen is identifiedbased on at least one of information associated with a gesture relatedto the at least one object, history information associated with agesture of a user previously generated on the touch screen and theinformation associated with the at least one object.
 14. The method ofclaim 11, wherein the event is at least one of an event of a gesture ofa user associated with the at least one object or an event indicatingthat the at least one object or another object displayed on the touchscreen overlaps the floating object.
 15. The method of claim 11, furthercomprising: when the at least one object is displayed on a majority areaof the touch screen, transparently displaying the floating object on afirst layer including the at least one object.
 16. The method of claim11, further comprising: in response to receiving an input for selectingthe floating object, changing a first mode to a second mode; anddisplaying one or more icons for executing one or more functions relatedto the floating object in the second mode, wherein the one or more iconsare displayed adjacent to the first position.
 17. The method of claim11, further comprising: when there is not an area where the at least oneobject is not displayed, identifying a use frequency of at least onearea in the touch screen based on history information associated with agesture of a user previously generated on the touch screen; identifyinga third position of the touch screen based on the use frequency; anddisplaying the floating object on the third position, wherein the thirdposition is a position where no gesture of the user occurs and the usefrequency is equal to, or smaller than, a predetermined value.
 18. Themethod of claim 11, further comprising: identifying an importance of theat least one object based on information associated with the at leastone object; and searching a position for displaying the floating objectbased on the identified importance.
 19. The method of claim 11, furthercomprising: in response to receiving an input for selecting the floatingobject, executing a function corresponding to the floating object; andin response to displaying an additional floating object, displaying theadditional floating object on a fourth position in an area where theadditional floating object does not cover the floating object.
 20. Anon-transitory computer-readable recording medium, which records aprogram performed on a computer, the program including executableinstructions that enable a processor to perform operations when theprogram is executed by the processor, the operations comprising:displaying at least one object on a touch screen of a display of anelectronic device; displaying a floating object on a first position ofthe touch screen where the at least one object is not displayed; inresponse to identifying an event related to the at least one object on afirst area adjacent to the first position, identifying a second positionof the touch screen for moving the floating object; moving the floatingobject to the second position without user input; and displaying thefloating object on the second position avoiding the at least one objectand the first area, wherein the second position is a position in asecond area of the touch screen without at least one object beingdisplayed.